Detroit Tigers (29-31) vs. Boston Red Sox (33-27)
First Pitch: 7:10 EST
Weather: 75°F • Partly Cloudy • 0% PoP
Stadium: Fenway Park – Boston, MA
Media: Fox / 97.1 The Ticket
Tigers Lineup:
1. Ian Kinsler (R) 2B
2. Nicholas Castellanos (R) 3B
3. Miguel Cabrera (R) 1B
4. Victor Martinez (S) DH
5. J.D. Martinez (R) RF
6. Justin Upton (R) LF
7. Mikie Mahtook (R) CF
8. James McCann (R) C
9. Jose Iglesias (R) SS
Pitching Matchup:
Justin Verlander (4-4, 4.63 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (7-2, 2.89 ERA)
[the_ad id=”80408″]
What to Watch for:
Justin Verlander has had an up-and-down season. Chris Sale, on the other hand, has been one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball. The Tigers are coming off of two games where they have held leads early but couldn’t hold on to them. It is of utmost importance that they even the series against a pitcher they play .500 ball against. A lot of that stems from the offense, who is falling into the trap, again, of leaving too many men on base and failing to cash in on opportunities when they are available.
Nicholas Castellanos and Justin Upton have been swinging the hottest bats on the team lately, and they’ll both look to extend their eight-game hitting streaks tonight. The Tigers sit 3.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. It will need to be the offense that carries this team back into the win column tonight.
Looking Back:
The Tigers got off to a pretty decent start in the opening game, chasing starting pitcher Brian Johnson from the game after 4.1 innings. However, they couldn’t quite cash in and allowed the Boston bullpen to keep the score close when Jackie Bradly Jr. homered to right field giving the Red Soc a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Jordan Zimmermann again had a good quality start, giving the Tigers six innings of two-run baseball and was in line for the win. However, that was taken away with one swing of the bat. They fell to 3.5 games back of first place in the Central and 2.5 out of the Wild Card spot.
Before You Watch:
https://detroitsportsnation.com/detroit-tigers-news/cpoposki/michael-fulmer-looking-answers-disappointing-outing/93879/
